


The View From Up Here

by rosa_himmelblau



Category: Wiseguy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:13:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24581362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosa_himmelblau/pseuds/rosa_himmelblau
Summary: Sonny takes Vinnie to his favorite tourist attraction.
Kudos: 3





	The View From Up Here

Gloria yawned, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth to try to suppress it. It was one of those days: dreary, muggy, and slow. The only people who came to the Empire State Building on days like this were tourists who couldn't come on a nicer day, and they tended to be cranky and leave quickly. Gloria didn't really blame them for that; there was no view to speak of. But they had no business taking it out on her or Marinda, who was new to both the job and the city, and got her feelings hurt easily.

Gloria yawned again. "I could fall asleep standing right here," she said. Marinda smiled and shook her head. She was going through a shipment of charms, sorting the ESBs (Empire State Buildings) from the SoLs (Statue of Libertys) from the I Heart NYs. By this time she knew that Gloria's help would be counterproductive; she might really fall asleep if she had to sort charms again.

The elevator doors opened and Gloria automatically glanced over. Then she looked again to watch the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life step off, looking around.

He was no tourist. For one thing, they never dressed that well: his dark suit was tailored. His coat—a gray flecked overcoat he wore with the collar turned up even though the weather was far too warm for it—looked expensive, like maybe it was alpaca or something. But that didn't really mean anything; there was something ineffable about him that said he knew his way around this neighborhood.

Though his amazing blue eyes flickered over everything in the gift shop, he didn't really notice her—or Marinda—and he and his companion walked toward the Observation Deck.

But the shorter man with him did notice. He grinned when he saw Gloria fluffing her curly hair and wetting her lips, but the grin was knowing, not malicious. He nudged the taller man and murmured something to him, winning himself an annoyed look that made him laugh.

Gloria knew the other man.

Not by name, but she'd seen him there before, and she knew he was someone to be taken seriously. Always before he'd come alone. Now he brought his—driver? That was the nice term for a bodyguard, right? When you were in the mob?

Gloria didn't care. So were two of her uncles.

The shorter man wore his overcoat on his shoulders, like a cape, in deference to a sling on his right arm. That was new. Other than that, he looked pretty much the same as every other time he'd been there, and that was a lot. He'd been coming since Gloria started working there, and probably before.

They had stopped just across from her, the shorter man seeming to be deciding something. Gloria couldn't imagine what there was to decide. The taller man, the beautiful one, tilted his head to ask, "Sonny. How long we gonna be here?"

Sonny gave him a quick, sharp glance. "Why, Vinnie, you got places to be?"

"No," Vinnie said patiently. "You do. At home. Resting. Like the doctor said."

"The doctor," Sonny said contemptuously. "What does he know?"

"Well," Vinnie said, and he sounded like he was trying not to laugh, "he's a doctor. He's got a medical degree. So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he probably knows a lot of medical stuff, and that includes how much rest a guy should get after he gets—" he gave them a quick look— "in a bad surfing accident like you did. Not to mention you not breathing in too much'a that cold air."

There was a moment of perplexity on Sonny's face—he hadn't been in a surfing accident—then he bit back a laugh. "Yeah. It's not that cold, though; it's in the fifties out there. Don't feel a bit like early February."

"Yeah, Sonny, whatever you say," Vinnie agreed. "Still a little too cold to just lay on the beach and work on your tan."

"That's why we came here." Sonny looked around with an expression of pure contentment. "I dunno why you made me wear this coat," he went on.

"Hey, I wore mine too, and it's heavier'n yours, so quit complaining."

Again the quick, sharp glance, but this time it was followed by a laugh that turned into a cough. "Cut it out," Sonny said when he could talk again. "C'm'on, you gotta see this." Sonny took him by the coat sleeve and pulled him up the steps and out onto the Observation Deck facing east.

"With that cloud cover, they're not going to be able so see anything," Marinda whispered. She didn't know much, but even she knew what kind of guys those were.

Gloria shook her head. "It doesn't matter. That one guy comes here no matter what the weather's like. You want some help?" She wasn't sleepy anymore.

"Sure," Marinda said, and pushed the sorted charms in her direction.

Gloria began putting them on the little racks, but she kept an eye on Vinnie and Sonny. Well, Vinnie, anyway. He didn't seem as taken with the view as his boss, but you could hardly blame him; there wasn't any view, unless you liked it spooky. 

Gloria knew Sonny was the boss, though she couldn't have said how she knew, because Vinnie sure didn't act like any driver she'd ever seen before. He treated Sonny like an annoying pet he was humoring with an unnecessary late night walk.

They had just reached the west side of the building when Gloria heard a low booming. She glanced out and saw the most perfect streak of lightning cut through the black and purple clouds. It looked like Thor doing target practice.

Then, all at once, the rain came, heavy sheets of it. The other three tourists came dashing back in. Gloria could see what looked like an argument between Vinnie and Sonny; clearly, Vinnie wanted to come back in and wanted Sonny to come with him. Just as clearly, Sonny was not coming back in. With a thrill, she wondered if they'd actually fight.

Two of the tourists were buying T-shirts, to replace their wet shirts. The third one had just left. "They can't stay out there," Marinda said quietly when the tourists were gone.

"No," Gloria agreed. But if Vinnie couldn't make Sonny come inside, what chance did she have? She'd have to call security and that could get ugly.

Vinnie pulled the door open, yelling, "Fine!" at Sonny before sloshing his way in. The thunder boomed punctuation. "Sorry about the wet," he said to Gloria.

"No problem," Gloria said, even though she'd be the one mopping it up later.

"Your friend can't stay out there," Marinda said.

"My friend is certifiable," Vinnie said. "He either wants pneumonia, or he wants to be hit by lightning, he doesn't care which."

"Nobody's allowed on the Observation Deck when there's a thunderstorm," Gloria said, though she said it informationally, not like she was trying to enforce the rules.

"I tried throwing him off," Vinnie said, deadpan, "but I couldn't lift him up high enough. Your bars go up too far."

Gloria laughed. Marinda looked askance.

"Here, maybe this'll ease your minds a little," Vinnie said, and from his dripping pants pocket he withdrew a sodden wallet. From the wallet, he took first one, then another damp one hundred dollar bill. "Can't divide one by two," he said. "At least, I think that's what they said in math class."

"But—" Marinda began, but Gloria stopped her by handing her one of the hundreds with a severe look.

"He's done this before," Gloria said "Only it wasn't a thunderstorm, just a summer shower."

"Yeah! He's a lunatic," Vinnie said. "And since he survived that shark attack, he thinks he's immortal."

"A shark attack?" Gloria asked skeptically.

"Yeah, he got knocked off his surfboard by a shark. It's amazing he's still alive."

"That's terrible," said Marinda, who apparently believed this story.

"He's fine. The scars impress the ladies."

"I'm sure they do," Gloria said.

More booms, more cracks of lightning drew their attention. Sonny looked like he was expecting to ride one of those lightning bolts away somewhere, if only one would get close enough. Gloria told Vinnie how many times a year the ESB gets hit by lightning.

"I never thought about that," Vinnie said with negligible interest.

Sonny had been making his way around the deck, staring up and out as though trying to memorize every second of this experience. Vinnie got interested in the penny machine and wasted ten dollars and ten pennies making silly souveirs.

"You want to buy some dry clothes?" Gloria asked him. "Or a towel?"

"Nah, thanks anyway." Another deep rumble started and grew, like an enormous, irrationally happy cat. When it ended, Vinnie said, "OK, that's enough'a this," and strode back to the Observation Deck.

"What're you, my mother?" they heard Sonny yell, and Vinnie laughed at him.

"Get inside," Vinnie yelled back, "or I'm taking the limo back to AC and you can take the bus home!"

"Nobody talkes to me like that!"

"Yeah?" Vinnie challenged. "That's what you think." And Vinnie grabbed him by the arm not in a sling.

For one breathless, exciting moment, Gloria thought Sonny was going to swing on Vinnie—and so did Vinnie, from the way his stance and bearing changed. If he did, he could expect Vinnie to hit back. Gloria had seen tourists swap blows before, but it was all petty irritation, practically slap fights. This, if it came, would be the real thing, as electrifying as the storm.

But Sonny didn't swing, and Vinnie dragged him, struggling, inside. Sonny had been swearing a blue streak, but when they got through the doors, Vinnie snapped, "Shuddup, there's ladies present!"

That seemed to snap Sonny to attention. He smiled at Gloria and Marinda—he did look really happy. "Would you like a towel?" Marinda asked shyly, offering him a beach towel with the ESB on it.

"Thanks, doll," Sonny said, taking the towel and starting to dry his hair. And to Vinnie, "Pay the nice lady." And he turned to walk to the elevator.

"Gonna kick your ass when I get you home," Vinnie muttered. He gave Marinda fifty. "Thanks a lot, ladies. Don't mention this to anybody, OK?"

"Mention what?" Gloria deadpanned. As the elevator doors closed, Vinnie winked at her.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story, then I lost it, then I rewrote it.


End file.
